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Once Again, Voters Call on Retailers to Pull Their Weight When It Comes to Payments

| Electronic Payments Coalition

WASHINGTON (June 18, 2018)—Financial institutions continue to dedicate resources towards developing and implementing innovations to make payments more convenient and secure, just as voters expect them to do. However, a majority believe both retailers and large financial institutions should invest in innovation, according to new Morning Consult survey data.

“Time and time again, retailers have shown they are more interested in cutting their own costs instead of making the necessary upgrades to make checking out more efficient and protect customers from fraud,” said Jeff Tassey, chairman of the board of the Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC). “While financial institutions remain committed to innovation in order to strengthen consumer choice, retailers must step up and catch up to the times.”

With a majority of consumers trusting innovative payments authentication methods, such as biometrics and encryption, retailers must fulfill their role in the payments ecosystem by adopting and supporting new technologies. In fact, more than one in three voters say fingerprint identification is more secure, beating out “traditional” methods such as PIN.

EMV chip still plays an important role in reducing fraud and a plurality of voters believe stores should only accept electronic payments if they’re equipped with EMV. While the number of merchants accepting EMV continues to grow—in March, it was estimated that 63 percent of merchants were EMV-enabled—it remains vital that retailers upgrade so all card payments are chip-on-chip.

“Financial institutions will continue to invest in resources that make electronic payments safer, easier, and more beneficial for retailers and consumers, but all players in the payments ecosystem—including retailers— must pull their weight,” said Tassey. “As breaches increase and fraudsters switch their methods, collaboration remains critical in order to protect consumers from fraud. Coming off one of the most breach-filled years in 2017, we cannot afford to waste any more time.”

To view EPC’s infographic on the polling, click here.

Morning Consult, on behalf of the Electronic Payments Coalition, conducted an online survey of 2,201 registered voters from May 18-22, 2018. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of +/- 2 percent.

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